I've been sick this past week with pollen allergies that turned into a nasty bronchial infection.

This week was spring break and my husband and daughter were out of state visiting my MIL who has also been quite ill and is now bedridden.

One night while they were gone, my daughter called to tell me how her eyes had finally been opened to the insensitivity of my husband's sisters who basically treat their mother's house as a hotel with personal service. These are adults, with jobs, in their 30s, who drop by their mother's house to raid the fridge, raid her checkbook (I am not kidding), do laundry, drop off their kids, etc. I am not going to go into all of the historical facts because obviously my MIL became an enabler of this behavior a very long time ago.

I was surprised to hear my daughter speak with such compassion and sympathy - traits she has not been known for, despite her generally sweet nature.

The next night she calls to tell me she's homesick (a first!) and she my DH are coming home early.

She gets home, finds me sick and immediately swings into action: laundry, dishes, bringing me tea and Claritin, etc. My husband and I look at her in wonder - wondering where our former daughter has gone off to and who is this new person, the one inhabiting her body.

Throughout the weekend, she has taken my temps, cleaned up after me, comforted me, hugged me, tells me how much she loves me, etc. We have gone on to have a couple intense discussions about our extended family, her future plans, life itself and I amazed at the depth and intellectual nature of the discussion.

I feel as if I lost one daughter last week, but gained a new one, this week.

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